Wednesday, October 4, 2017

728 Dead And 549 Wounded In September 2017 In Iraq

Iraq saw another low in violence in September 2017. There
were the fewest security incidents, deaths, and wounded recorded this year.

There were just 306 security incidents reported in the
media. That surpassed the previous low of 357 in August. In January 2016, there
were an average of 23.3 incidents per day. By September 2017 that was down to
10.2 per day.

Baghdad led the way during the month with 82 incidents,
followed by 65 in Ninewa, 40 in Anbar, 35 in Diyala, 31 in Salahddin, 26 in Kirkuk,
12 in Babil, 3 in Basra, 3 in Dhi Qar, 3 in Kurdistan, 2 in Najaf, 2 in
Sulaymaniya, 1 in Irbil, and 1 in an unknown location.

Security
Incidents In Iraq By Province September 2017

Baghdad 82

Ninewa 65

Anbar 40

Diyala 35

Salahaddin 31

Kirkuk 26

Babil 12

Basra 3

Dhi Qar 3

KRG 3

Najaf 2

Sulaymaniya 2

Irbil 1

Unknown 1

A total of 728 people lost their lives and another 549 were
wounded during the month. 1 U.S. soldier, 6 Peshmerga, 12 fighters from the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), 48 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF),
51 Hashd al-Shaabi, and 610 civilians died, while 1 U.S. Soldier, 27 Peshmerga,
34 Hashd, 39 ISF, and 448 civilians were injured. By province Ninewa had 396
casualties, 238 in Baghdad, 177 in Dhi Qar, 170 in Anbar, 96 in Salahddin, 66
in Kirkuk, 65 in Diyala, 46 in Babil, 15 in Kurdistan, 3 in Najaf, 2 in Irbil,
2 in an unknown location, 1 in Basra.

Casualties
In Iraq By Province September 2017

Ninewa 396 (351 Killed, 45 Wounded)

Baghdad 238 (55 Killed, 183 Wounded)

Dhi Qar 177 (84 Killed, 93 Wounded)

Anbar 170 (85 Killed, 83 Wounded)

Salahaddin 96 (25 Killed, 71
Wounded)

Kirkuk 66 (42 Killed, 24 Wounded)

Diyala 65 (40 Killed, 25 Wounded)

Babil 46 (26 Killed, 20 Wounded)

KRG 15 (15 Killed)

Najaf 3 (3 Killed)

Irbil 2 (2 Wounded)

Unknown 2 (1 Killed, 1 Wounded)

Basra 1 (1 Killed)

Security in Anbar has remained stable over the last year.
Since October 2016 there has been roughly one incident per day. In September,
there were a total of 40 incidents, averaging out to 1.3 per day. Despite those
low figures the Islamic State is still escalating the type of attacks it is
carrying out. On September
27 for instance, the insurgentsattacked
three areas outside
of Ramadi. There was also 1 successful suicide bombing and 1 car bombing, along
with 15 suicide bombers being killed, and 10 car bombs that were destroyed. The
government finally started a campaign to free the remaining western areas of
the province that were still under IS control. After several towns were taken
however, that paused, and has not re-started as the Iraqi forces focused upon
Hawija.

Babil is a new area that IS returned to in just the last few
weeks. In September, there were 12 incidents leading to 26 deaths and 20
wounded. Most of those were in Jurf al-Sakhr, which was emptied of people by
the joint forces in 2014. Despite that, the militants have been able to
infiltrate the area nearly every week to lay an IED and shoot at the Hashd that
run the area. The sophistication of attacks has also picked up. On September
13, a suicide
car bomb went off at a checkpoint
in Musayib,
which is the district seat of Jurf al-Sakhr.

Baghdad continued with historic lows in attacks and
casualties. There were just 82 during the month leading to 55 killed and 183
wounded. In January 2016, there were an average of 11.6 incidents per day.
Since April 2017 there has only been around 3 per day. Not only were the number
of attacks down, but almost all of them were low level such as IEDs. There was
one car bomb and a suicide bomber was arrested, but that was a far cry from
previous months.

Each month, the Islamic State has attempted a mass casualty
bombing in the south. In August,
it hit Karbala with suicide car bombs. On September
14, suicidebombers
and a car
bomb hit Dhi
Qar leaving 84 dead and 93 wounded. These are done for psychological
reasons to show that the group can hit the Shiite south, and sow terror.

Diyala is another province where the Islamic State is making
a return. While there were just 35 incidents the insurgents were attempting
several major attacks. That included two car
bombs, one of which was dismantled,
and two largeattacks
involving 16 suicide bombers total.

After attacking west Anbar, the government forces went on to
focus upon the Hawija district in southern Kirkuk. That led to most of the 42
incidents recorded during September. There were also several attacks in Kirkuk
city including a suicidecar
bomb. These were almost all reactive to the actions of the Iraqi forces.

Nearly every week Turkey is shelling and bombing PKK
positions in northern Kurdistan. During the month, there were one artillery
strike and four air raids that left 7 civilians and 8 PKK fighters dead and 2
civilians wounded.

While the Mosul battle is over the insurgents are still
active throughout Ninewa and inside the city as well. There were 65 incidents,
23 of which were in Mosul. The rest were all around the governorate. IS also
continued to try to infiltrate across the Syria border. That accounted for most
of the 173 suicide bombers killed during the month.

Salahaddin was the other governorate where IS is attempting
a comeback. Again, the total number of incidents, 31, was low, but the type
showed that the insurgents were being more active. That included 29 suicide
bombers and 15 car bombs. Only 4 of those were successful, but it was the type
of attacks that showed that IS was intensifying its operations.

At the end of the month, one U.S. soldier was killed and
another wounded by an IED in an unspecified location. This was likely in
northern Iraq where American troops are assisting the Iraqis in their latest
operations.

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com